1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to storage bin-type ice dispensers for storing an amount of ice cubes therein and for dispensing the ice cubes therefrom on demand.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,512,502 granted to Landers is a storage bin-type ice dispenser which includes a semicylindrical bin arranged to store an amount of ice cubes therein, a cone-shaped wire auger mounted on a sloped axle between the end walls of the bin for agitating the ice cubes and for pushing the ice cubes along the bottom of the bin toward a dispensing opening in the front of the bottom wall, and radially extending fingers mounted on the axle to sweep the dispensing opening to break ice clusters near the fingers. In operation, a large flyte of the auger pushes the ice cubes from the rear of the pin toward the front of the bin where some of the ice cubes drop through the dispensing opening and some of the ice cubes are recirculated upward. In such an arrangement of the ice dispenser, a maximum guiding distance of the ice cubes becomes more than the axial length of the wire auger, resulting in (a) deterioration of the guiding efficiency of the ice cubes and (b) crushing of the ice cubes. Moreover, ice clusters near the dispensing opening may not be smoothly broken as the fingers are located adjacent the side walls of the bin.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 62-9829 discloses an ice dispenser of the type which includes a pair of parallel rotary shafts each having a pair of helical fins provided thereon in a reverse pitch and opposed to one another. The rotary shafts are mounted in a storage bin in such a manner that the helical fins are arranged to push ice cubes from the opposite end walls of the bin toward the center of the bin where a dispensing opening is provided to dispense some of the ice cubes therethrough. In such an arrangement of the rotary shafts, the ice cubes may not be smoothly dispensed only by the helical fins when the ice cubes are stuck together and form solid blocks or frozen clusters.